CBS provides more proof that the Euro is doomed:

In a 10 billion euro bailout deal clinched in the early hours of Monday morning, Cyprus agreed to dissolve the country’s second-largest bank, inflicting significant losses – possibly up to 40 percent – on all deposits larger than $130,000.

That step, agreed with the other 16 European Union countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund, marks the first time in Europe’s 3-year-old debt crisis that large deposit holders – wealthy savers, businesspeople or institutions – will be forced to take losses as part of a eurozone rescue.

The move was hailed later that day by Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the Eurogroup of euro finance ministers, who said that forcing losses on banks’ shareholders, bondholders and even large depositors could become the template for future rescues.

However by Tuesday, Benoit Coeure, a member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, bluntly dismissed Dijsselbloem’s idea.

Coeure is dreaming, the finance ministers are still trying to convince people that austerity is working as unemployment rises, so they will use the same model for any bank in trouble, which the big depositors have probably already figured out. The run, the really punishing part of the run, won’t involve queues of people outside of banks, it will take place electronically.

Dijsselbloem had better hope that there are no Dutch banks in trouble, because I don’t think the bankers in Amsterdam are going to be happy with his comments.

I rarely write about abortion or LGBT issues because I have no real standing for an opinion on the basics of the issues involved, i.e. they are really none of my business.

The reality is that the question of abortion is an issue that women need to resolve on their own with whoever they personally want to discuss it with. No one else has any right to stick their nose into this private, medical issue. I have yet to see any real evidence for society to get involved or pass laws concerning abortion. Frankly, no one’s religious beliefs have a place in public laws.

The only reason I’m going to comment on the two cases currently before the Supreme Court is because of a mangled CNN front page headline for the article, Will gay rights infringe on religious liberty?. The questionable headline was along the line of ‘Will churches be forced to perform same-sex marriages?’

Marc D. Stern, the general counsel for the American Jewish Committee, knows that religious groups can refuse to marry anyone they want, for any actual reason by simply claiming it violates their principles. The problems that Mr. Stern is addressing have already come up in the claim of religious freedom over Obamacare.

The rules are simple, you can do whatever you want regarding the way you operate your religion, but once you step outside the church or temple, equality is the law. Nothing other than the core religious acts of a religion are protected from the requirement for equal treatment for all Americans. If you operate a facility open to the public, don’t expect to keep the tax exemption if you discriminate, and don’t expect to receive public money.

From my point of view based on all of the evidence I’ve seen and read about, people are born LGBT. Realistically, who would put up with all of the attendant grief that is visited upon LGBT people by choice? If you look at the reaction of some families when a child ‘outs’ themselves, it doesn’t look like nurture has any role in the situation. Logically, this is something that occurs in humans. With enough time and study we might find out what the mechanism is, but is it really important compared to all of the other things that we need to find out? Some people are left-handed and other people are gay – that’s the way the world is.

Civil rights is not a zero-sum game. Treating people the same doesn’t require taking anything away from anyone else.

Let’s not forget that religion is not inherent, it is a choice. No one is forced to believe in any particular religion, and many people change their religion. There is no logical way to justify giving precedence to a belief based on a personal decision over anyone else’s rights. Believe whatever you want, but don’t expect everyone else to accommodate your beliefs.

This is a new post to replace the Rehab post that is being used to discuss start-ups, computer issues, and other technical stuff. Comments get automatically closed after a month, but the kvetching and problems tend to be longer term.